Organic matter removal on oxide determination in oxisols via portable x-ray fluorescence

Abstract

Many factors can influence the results obtained by portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (pXRF). The effect of soil organic matter on pXRF results is not satisfactory understood. Thus, we conducted this study to verify the effect of organic matter removal on oxide determination by pXRF in Oxisols. To obtain soil material with different organic matter contents and maintaining the same elemental composition from soil minerals, six contrasting Oxisols were heated in a muffle furnace for 30 min at the following temperatures (°C): 100; 200; 300; 400; 500 and 600. After heating, the soil samples were scanned using a pXRF Bruker® S1 Titan LE model (Dual Soil mode) for 60 s and the contents of SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, TiO2, P2O5, and MnO were recorded. The soil organic matter presence underestimated the pXRF results for lightest oxides (Si and Al) compared to heaviest oxides (Fe, Ti, and Mn). These oxides are important for tropical soils classification and for many soil-related studies and pXRF technology has been a useful tool for soil chemical characterization. Our findings contribute to more suitable use of pXRF highlighting the possible effect of organic matter.